Ukraine Ukraine's parliament passed a controversial plan to weaken the presidency, breaking a standoff between outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and the opposition and smoothing the way for a new presidential vote. Iraq American troops waiting in the Kuwaiti desert to go into Iraq challenged US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld about their safety and their future in the country. China The EU said it is working towards lifting a 15-year-old arms embargo on China, but rebuffed pressure for a quick end to the ban from China's prime minister, who slammed it as a Cold War relic. Japan Japan protested to North Korea and threatened to cut food aid after the Stalinist state handed over other people's ashes to prove the death of a Japanese woman whom it had abducted at age 13. Northern Ireland Intensive efforts to restore power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics in Northern Ireland "are not yet complete," British Prime Minister Tony Blair said. Iraq Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon visited British forces in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, just days after a battle group returned from a controversial deployment near Baghdad. US US Secretary of State Colin Powell called on European nations to look beyond their differences with the United States over Iraq and respond positively to US overtures to improve strained transatlantic ties. Mideast Prime Minister Ariel Sharon bolstered mounting peace hopes Wednesday by saying Israel would hold off offensive operations against the Palestinians in the absence of attacks by militant organisations. Pakistan Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf defended his record in tackling Islamic extremism and lobbied for EU trade preferences which he says are vital for the country's future stability. Ghana Ballots from Ghana's presidential and parliamentary elections were being counted amid charges of anomalies from across the political spectrum and reports of further deaths in clashes in the west African state.